Friday, May 22, 2015

To “Meat” a Huge Demand II

Early yesterday morning I was lying in bed and watching the movie “Diana” on TV. Something the Princess Diana told her lover - the Pakistani Dr. Hasnat Khan - touched me deeply. There was this scene where the Dr. was quite clear that he would not be able to face the constant attention they would get from the media and the public - if they married and lived together and yet, he confesses that he loved her very much. To which the Princess quite visibly distressed, declares:

“I have a billion people out there who say they love me - but I need one person to love me enough to stay with me”.

Today we have the same heart-wrenching situation in Bhutan. Of the eleven Cabinet Members, we need one Minister who will take a stand for the good of this country. Unfortunately, it seems like we have all of them walking away from their responsibilities - like the Pakistani Dr. who shied away from making a commitment that Princess Diana was so passionately seeking from him. It is a pity - for once I thought that the PDP government was going to make a bold statement. No such luck!

I wonder if Princess Diana could have avoided that tragic and fatal accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, had Dr. Hasnat not shied away from marrying her as she had wanted him to?

The Home Minister says that he is heeding the petition submitted by the Lopens of the Central Monastic Body. What does this mean - that he is handing over the governance of the country to the Dratsang?

The Agriculture Minister says that there will be no killing to feed the meat processing plants that have been proposed. That the plan is being implemented to improve the hygiene of the meat imported into the country - for consumption by the Bhutanese.

Was that our problem, ever? How is importing millions of Ngultrums worth of meat processing plants going to improve the economy of the country? How is it going to make it economical for the people of Bhutan to splurge on their meat eating habit? How is that an act that is in conformity to the religious sentiments of the Dratsang?

I am saddened and disappointed that such a forward looking and progressive plan has been allowed to be throttled by an organization that has no business in governance. This makes me reminiscence on a remark made by the late Dasho Rinzin Dorji - a person with exceptionally brilliant mind. Some of you may remember him as the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Trade & Industries. You may recall that towards the end of his time, he had authored a privately circulated article titled “The case of the missing Joint Secretary”.

One evening, over a drink in his house in Changangkha, he told me:

“You know Yeshey, if nothing works in this country, I have an idea what to do. “

I asked; “What do you propose?”

“Simple: I would hand over the governance of this country to G C Bhura - at 10% commission.”

I wonder if that time has come? Ofcourse G C Bhura is long dead. Perhaps we can consider Lhaki Group - one of modern Bhutan’s most astute business conglomerates.